By Chris Bavender
On a recent visit to the playground with his grandson, Parker, Arthur Morris asked him what his favorite thing to do was. The answer wasn’t what he expected.
“He just said, ‘I like to make friends with kids I don’t know,’” Morris said. “That struck me as a great answer but not what I was expecting to hear. I then understood that since most of Parker’s childhood was in the care of immediate adult family members, he seldom got to interact with other children.”
That conversation, Morris said “blew him away” and inspired the idea to write “Friend Maker”. The 110-page children’s book features 75 cartoons and 200 questions for kids to get to know each other. It is geared for children age 5 to 12.
“I actually consider my book an invention. It’s an invention designed to bring children together and become friends. It invents friends instantly,” said Morris, 63. “It only takes one question being asked to one child from an adult or another child – whether they know each other or not – and it immediately opens up a world of curiosity about each other, sharing their knowledge and interests all being shared equally. One of the world’s greatest gifts is friendship.”
Morris believes “Friend Maker” would be a useful tool for adults to use to determine if a child might be experiencing abuse by exposing possible “hidden concerns from a child.”
“For example there is a question that asks, ‘Do you know your next door neighbor?’ The answer may surprise you, and you may learn something about that neighbor that just doesn’t seem right,” Morris said.
So, what does Morris’ grandson think about the book?
“I really didn’t think he would want to sit still while I asked him these questions. But once we started he wanted more. He then wanted me to sit with him and ask him more questions,” Morris said. “I’ve learned so many things about him I never knew, which fascinated me also. My theory is everyone – and mostly kids – love to talk about themselves, but instead of sounding like bragging, children get to tell the things to others that fascinate them and their views about things.”
“Friend Maker” is available at www.Xlibris.com in Hardback ($29.99), Paperback ($19.99) or eBook ($3.99).
